Howling Winds and Snapping Branches [Solo]

[Jaiun]

9 Fall 511 A.V. The night was dark and cold, though Jaiun felt little of either; as a bear, his gaze was far and sharp, able to pierce the nighttime veil and see the hardy trees and snow-covered rocks that lay around him; and, with the blessing of Morwen upon him, the cold wind felt like what Jaiun would compare a summer's breeze to, though, having never left the Northern Reaches, he would not know what a sensation felt like. Nonetheless, sometime tingled down the Kelvic's spine, a mysterious feeling that Jaiun didn't know where it came from; a feeling that spoke of one thing- danger. The bear paused, his shaggy mass stopping in the middle of a opening in the woods. Dark eyes surveyed his surroundings, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not see any theat; conversely, the feeling of apprehension seemed to flare even stronger. "Perfect. Just perfect." Jaiun grumbled. This was supposed to be a simple scouting mission, just to make sure the borders of Avanthal were secure; while the possibility of a wild animal attack was ever-present, the Icewatch were usually able to take care of them easily. Unfortunately, that had all been done in groups- Jaiun, now, was all alone. And you never could feel quite secure in a dark place all alone. Just one more disadvantage of not having a bondmate. Cautiously, Jaiun began moving forward once more. He was in his bear form, and at the moment his bestial side was taking over; he was beginning to feel a primal anticipation, a shot of adrenaline that had him waiting- no enjoying- for the the fight that was about to come. Whatever Jaiun's other senses said, his primalness said an enemy was near. Very near... A branch snapped, an sound magnified by the silence all around. Jaiun's head swiveled, looking for the source of the noise. He zoned in on a tree at the far edge of the glade. With a sudden roar that split the silence and sent a dozen birds scattering, Jaiun charged, leaping for the area around the tree. Claws were met with nothing more than brittle leaves and sodden pebbles. Teeth encountered nothing but dead branches. Recovering from the charge, Jaiun swiveled back and forth. Nothing. No threat lay within his gaze. Now, for the first thing, Jaiun paused, uncertain. Had his senses been right? Was their no prey waiting for him. Still uneasy, but slightly assuaged that nothing lay around, Jaiun turned to go back to his scouting mission. Then, the Talderian wolf, which had been lying in wait, watching the Dire Polar Bear from the moment it stepped into the glade, leaped from behind Jaiun and towards his back.

[Jaiun]

Jaiun sensed the wolf a moment before it struck. He managed to turn into the blow, moving approximately a half-turn, before the wolf landed; instead of sinking it's claws into the back of the polar bear, the Dire Wolf instead landed it's sharp claws into the matted fur at his shoulder, with enough velocity to pierce the outermost layer of Jaiun's flesh. He roared, more in anger than pain; with a sudden thrust he extricated the wolf from himself and sent into flying. The wolf hit the tree Jaiun had previously been investigating with a thump, landing at the foot of the gnarled old plant. In a thrice he was back on his paws, but Jaiun was upon it in a flash; sharp claws of his own struck against the overlarge beast, slicing it's side. The beast howled and leaped to the side; it tried to bite at Jaiun's forearm but the polar bear, more agile than it looked, managed to avoid the blow. Then he was again upon the wolf, and the two, locked in a deadly embrace of flying claws, fur and teeth, rolled across the clearing. It was all too much for Jaiun; the raw fear, adrenaline and rage made a volatile mix that filled Jaiun was a primitive aggression that made him a primal angel of death. Stabbing, biting, slashing...the next scenes blurred together in Jaiun's mind, simply an endless repetition of pain and joy. But then, suddenly, it was all over; the claws that dug deep into his skin, the teeth that painfully pierced his fur were gone. In an instant, the adversary Jaiun was facing was a gone, and it took a moment for Jaiun's battle-addled senses to recognize the enemy had fled. At this, a joy filled Jaiun's limbs. He could no longer feel his wounds, though he knew if he looked down, he'd realize how much pain he was truly in. And thus, he tried to enjoy the feeling of winning, the feeling of being the apex predator, at least for a single moment. But it was not over yet. The wolf had to be dealt with. It was a threat to all those who lived in Vantha. The hunter who hunted around the Icewall, the berry-picker, the nature-lover...all were in danger from this crazed, wounded wolf, and Jaiun had a duty to protect them, and as of the moment, his duty trumped all else, all the regrets and hesitancies; they all fell second to his duty to Avanthal. And perhaps, there are something else influencing his decision; a need to finish it, perhaps. Whatever it was, Jaiun knew he had to pursue the wolf, and so, he ran into the woods, following the trail of blood that lay spattered across the forest floor.

[Jaiun]

Running. Blood. Tree. Another grove. Jaiun's thoughts, rendered disparate by his simmering emotions, flashed in his brain as he followed the trail of the injured wolf. It wasn't too hard, at least not for Jaiun; blood spatter made the path laughably easy to follow. And while the swift feet of the wolf and it's headstart had meant it was able to outpace the slower bear for now, it was tiring. And soon Jaiun would catch up... Jaiun burst out into a glade, eerily similar to the one he had his fight with the wolf in a second ago. Nearly symmetrical trees ringed the glade, and the blood suddenly stopped in the middle; Jaiun, with his limited knowledge in tracking and woodlore, had suddenly lost the wolf. Where did it go? The next thought lasted longer in Jaiun's head. The bear meandered his way to the central of the glade, where the blood ended in a rather thick pool, and stood still, looking at it. A second later a second drop of blood feel into the pool, upsetting it and setting a ripple through it, startling the jittery Jaiun; it took him a second of silent apprehension to realize it was blood from his wounds that had caused it. However, the moment of silence made Jaiun realize another fact; the sound was filled with a piteous...crying? Jaiun listened closer. Yes. It was crying, whimpering- but not a human nature. Distinctly animal. Was it the wolf? No, it sounded too high-pitched. Somewhat anxiously, Jaiun, listening to the sound, moved eastward, following the sound out of the glade. As he made his way deeper into the Reaches, he heard the sound grow louder, and louder, until finally- Jaiun burst into a scene that rendered him, once again, speechless. The wolf he had injured, lay on it's side in the middle of the woods, panting softly. The things that were making the whimpering sounds were three little wolf cubs. Given their Dire nature, they were about the size of adult dogs, but they were cubs nonetheless. They crowded around the elder wolf, licking at it's wounds and crying piteously for the injured animal- which Jaiun suddenly realized was their mother. Jaiun stood softly at the edge of this scene, and in their distress, the cubs did not sense him. For a moment, Jaiun simply stared, watching the quartet; them, suddenly, he turned around and walked away. ...Morning had come when Jaiun found his way back to the Icewall Gates. As he approached, he grew aware of the sound of something approaching him in turn. Through bloody eyelids, he saw a fellow bear, with a man on it's back, grow near. The Icewatch. The man asked something, but in his state, Jaiun didn't know what he said. His bear, however, asked the same question in beartongue, in a loud and slow enough voice for Jaiun to hear: "What happened to you?" Jaiun tried to twist his muzzle into a grin, although it didn't quite work. "Just a little encounter in the woods, that's all." He said in a deep and pained growl that sounded quite unlike his own.

[Cheshire]

Character: Jaiun Experience: Observation +2, Brawling +1, Running +1, Tracking +1, Hunting +1 Lore: Discomfort Without a Bondmate, Fighting a Wolf, Avanthal Pride, Mercy for the Young Additional Note: Very good first thread! It's good to see you getting down to your Icewatch duties right off the bat PM me with concerns.